by Howard Campbell
SOUTH FLORIDA – News that Buju Banton has postponed five shows on his ‘The Overcomer Tour’ continues a trend of high-profile artists calling off gigs this year for various reasons. The Jamaican Grammy winner’s management announced last week that dates scheduled for September in Houston, Dallas, Phoenix, California and Chicago will be rescheduled.
In a statement, released on August 11, they insisted the tour has not been canceled. The opening show, on August 23 at Amerant Bank Arena in Fort Lauderdale, is still on.
The Overcomer Tour was announced on July 15, shortly after Banton performed at two sold-out shows on July 13 and 14 at the UBS Arena in Elmont, New York. All 13 shows were scheduled for arenas, venues with over 15,000 capacity.
No reason has been given for the postponements, but it comes just days after Lauryn Hill canceled her tour due to poor ticket sales. Jennifer Lopez, The Black Keys, Rod Stewart and Justin Timberlake have either canceled or postponed shows in the US and Europe this year.
In June, Dave Clark, editor of Ticket News which tracks the live entertainment scene, said economics is a big reason for many of these acts pulling the plug on their tours and shows.
“The days where there was enough demand to sell out arenas at top dollar just isn’t there in this live events economy — outside of people like Taylor Swift who can sell whatever they want wherever they want,” he told NBC News. said. “People are seeing some of the prices they’re asking and just saying, ‘Hard pass’.
Buju Banton’s other dates in August, in Tampa, Washington DC and Boston, will go ahead. So too gigs in Atlanta and Hartford, Connecticut in September.
The success of the UBS Arena shows — which attracted over 35,000 fans — influenced his management to assemble an arena tour of the US, a rarity for dancehall-reggae artists.
They were Buju Banton’s first shows in the US since his visa for that country was reinstated in May. He served an eight-year prison sentence in the US on drug-related charges, which ended with his December, 2018 deportation to Jamaica.